Means for handling lifeboats



Feb. 18, 1930. A. P. SCHAT 1,747,795

MEANS FOR HANDLING LIFEBOATS Filed June 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N V EN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Feb. 18, 1930. sfi -r 1,747,795

MEANS FOR HANDLING LIFEBOATS Filed June 26. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheat 4 INVENTOR.

alin /Z 80%a3fi' Patented. Feb. 18, 1930 UNITED STATES- ANE PIETER SGHAT, OF WASSENAAR, NEAR THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS MEANS FOR HANDLING LTFEBOATS Application filed June 26, :1925, Serial No. 39,805, and in Great Britain March 26, 1925.

My present invention relates to means for handling a life boat, one object of theinvention being to facilitate both the launching and the recovering of the boat, another ohject being to protect the boat against coming into direct contact with the side of the vessel and thereby prevent it from tipping or canting on the high side of the ships hull and from being damaged should it be smashed against the ship due to the rolling thereof.

A leading feature of my invention consists of a pair of runners arranged to be detachably secured to the inboard side of the lifeboat to prevent'the lifeboat from contacting withthe hull of the ship as it is raised and lowered thereon.

The invention consists in certain, novel features of construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which: a

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of my improved devices as it appears in operative position on a lifeboatmounted on ship deck.

Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the boat shown in Fig. 1, the skids or runners being shown principally in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is av sectional view taken through one of the skids and a sloping bar of the runway on which the boat is supported on deck.

4 is a broken vertical section, of the gunwale of the boat on its inboard side, showing the means of clamping a skid thereto.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of 4L and,

Fig. 6 is a broken top plan'view of the ghn- Wale of theboat at the upper end of the skid, showing the clamping mechanism in the position it occupies when the skid is to be detached from the'boat, the upper end ofvthe skid being shown in section. r

v A number of prior constructions have been devised exclusively for exceptional cases, for instance, 'forleaving a sinkingor a beached ship, but they donot sufficiently meet the requirements of the usual boat drill, which is often held once every fortnight and during which the boats and their cradles or sleds should be tried out and rowing or sailing tests held. With known constructions, it takes. a Wholemerchants steamer deck crew to restore the cradles and the boats in position readyto be usedagain in an emergency case.

In accordance with my present invention, I simply provide the boat, at its inboard side, 55 with one or more pieces of T-iron fitted with their flanges flat against the boats side, so that, when the boat is launched, only the relatively sharp edge of the body portions of the T-irons can contact with the hull of the vessel. Hereby the contact surface area and, as a consequence, the frictional resistance and the canting moment are reduced to a minimum.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, the boat 20 is provided with two members (hereinafter termed skids) 49,750 each consisting of a piece of T-iron bent to fit with its flange flat against the inboard side of the boat. Each skid is provided with a bearing 51 for the keel of the boat and further with suitable means for clamping the skid to the gunwale of the boat. For each skid'there is provided on deck an outwardly sloping way in the form of a frame 52 provided with pairs of rollers 53 for the flange of the skid to run on, see Fig. 15. At its top end each skid carries an eccentric 56 for clamping engagementwith the upper edge or gunwale of the boat. At its outer side this eccentric has a pivot or journal 54 whichpivotally engages the upper end'of the skid; and at its inner side it has a forwardly extending rightangled extension 57 locatedjust beyond the inner edge of the gunwale. The operating handle or lever 55 of the eccentric extends rearwardly from the eccentric above the top edge of the boat, being inthe same horizontal plane as the forward extension or finger 57. The lever 55 and the finger 57 are so arranged relatively to the eccentric that when said handle and finger are in the horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 5, the eccentric is in itslow position with the handle and finger occupying a plane slightly above the top edge of the boat, so that the eccentric can be moved laterally inward into a position'above the upper edge of the gunwale, as shown in Fig, 6 or it can be moved outwardly to disengage the skid from the boat. loo

, T-shaped cross-sectionlvmay of course use skidshavmg' an angular or triangular cross-.

When the boat is to be launched, the same is allowed to slide downwardly along the inclined ways 52 after its supporting means have been-moved out of the way; During its movement over the ways 52,"th'e bottom sides of the flanges of the T-skids are supported byii'the'rollers-53, but when the boat is'over 'the'side; the sharp edges of *the skids serve to guide the boat over the hull of the vessel. hen the boatiswaterborn'e,the skids can easi-l'y'be released and removed in the manner described hereinbefore and, if desired,taken into the boat: P refera bly,' also in this installationa roller or tube; (not shown) is provided at the-edge of the-ships deck.

Instead of skids having" a substantially section,proyidedthatthese be secured to the boat in such a manner that a 'sharpedge there ofis adapted to slide over the ships hull.

LIt ;is .evident that my novel skids, owing tofth'eir' low .weightand simple construction,

canveryeasilybe handled and replaced.

Having. now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner'the same isto be performed, I declare that what I claim is v 1. In a device for launching lifeboats, a

' skate formed of a piece'of metal bent to fit the profile ofthe boat, and providedon its outer c or convex side with an edge for'contacting.

withthehull of thezship' when the boat is being launched, and on its inner or concave sidezbeinggprovidedwith a fiat face to prevent the device from rocking laterally on the boatpjand means for detachably securing the vdevice to theboat.

' 2. In a device for launching a lifeboat, a skate formedof a piece'of metal having its upper end portion bent to fit the profile of the boat, and having the portion between its endsstraigh'athe device being provided on its inner or concave side with a flat face to hold it against rocking laterally on the boat,

andon its convex side being narrowed toan edge portion'for engagement withthe hull of the ship and means for ,detachably securing thede'vice to the boat. I p

3. In a device for launching lifeboats, a fskatejformedof a piece'of metal having-its upper end portion bentto fit the profile of the boat, and having the portionbetweenits ends' straight, the device being provided on its inner or concave side with a fiat face to hold it against rocking laterally on the boat, and on its convex side being narrowed to an edge portion for engagement with the hull of the ship; and means for detachably securing the device to'the boat; said'device having means on its lower inner facefor engagement with thekeelof the boat, and on its extreme upper end having, means 1 for engagement with the gunwale of the boat, said means being arrangednfor vertically adjusting said upper end of the skate upwardly ofi the gunwale of the boat-,whereby todr'aw the skate into bindingengagement with the boat.

4; ln-afdevice for launching li-feboats, a

skate-formedofa piece ofmetal having its upper end portion'bent to fit the profile of theiboaty andhavin the portion between its ends straight, the evice 'beingprovided on it'sdnner orconcave side with a flat face to hold-itagainst rocking laterally on the boat, and. on-itsconvex sidebeing narrowed to an edgeportion fol-engagement with the hull ofthe-ship and; means 'for :detachably securing the-deviceto theboat, said device having means on itslower inner face for engagement 'w1th"'thekeeloftheboat, andon 1ts extreme upper end havingan eccentric cam forclamping engagement with the gunwale of the boat.

5F'In -a devic'ef fdr lau'n'ching lifeboats, a

skate formed-(0f :pie'ce of'metal, having itsupperend portiom'bent to fit theprofile ofv the boa t,"and havinmth'e portion between its endsstraight, the device being provided on its-.inner-or concave sidewith a flat face to holdi-it'against rocking laterally on' the boat,

-'onits convex sidebeing narrowed to an edge portlon for engagement with thehull of the ship; and means for detachably secur ingthe device to the boat, said skate being arranged on its lower inner'face for engagementwithi the keel of the boat, and on its extreme'upperend having an eccentric cam for clamping engagement with the gunwale of thejboat,',saideccentric cam having an operating lever arranged to be swung into a horizontal position on the top .of the gunwale in parallelism therewith when the eccentric c-am isf in its upper or inoperative position," and upwardly into a vertical posi tion, when the; carnis in, itszoperative or clamping position; anda hook lever overhanging the inner edgeof'the gunwale in the same transverseplane as the operating lever' and arranged to extend downwardly whenjthe cam isiin its clamping position on the gunwale, whereby said hook lever holds the upper end of the skate against outer lateralinovement away from the boat.

6 lniadevice, of the character described, a lifeboat sk'ate' curved at its upper end to conform'tothe curvature ofthe boat, sa id skate having its main section formed of fiat "iron bent edgewise, whereby to present an edge to the ships side as the boat descends, said skate having its inner or concave side provided with a flat section disposed at right angles to said main section; whereby to hold the main section at right angles to the ngitudinal extent of the boat, and to spread the shock over a large surface when the lifeboat is smashed against the side of the ship; 10 and means for detachably securing the skate to the boat.

Dated this 9th day of April, 1925. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ANE PIETER SCHAT. 

